Rev. Barber: Christian Nationalism Has Infiltrated the Black Church
With the rise of Christian Nationalism, the work of the Black Church is more vital than ever, according to Bishop William J. Barber.
Barber, the president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, believes that the time is now for the Black Church to reclaim its “prophetic voice.”
To spotlight the ever-growing influence of Christian Nationalism in conservative politics, Barber is bringing his prophetic message directly to the Trump administration and MAGA Christianity with “Moral Mondays” demonstrations in the nation’s capital.
Since June 5, Barber has led a diverse coalition of interfaith leaders, civil rights advocates, and low-wage workers who are actively countering what Barber calls “policy violence.” Each Monday, clergy gather outside the White House, the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Capitol, as a “visible public witness.”
For Barber, confronting Christian nationalism underscores a foundational truth in his theology: the Black Church must “remain fiercely and unapologetically socially engaged.” He warns that turning inward only or focusing solely on personal salvation leaves communities defenseless against oppressive systems.
“We have too many congregations having praise parties like nothing is wrong. And they think that doing social justice is having a Martin Luther King program once a year,” Barber told The Root. “There’s no consistent teaching and action around the issues of justice, mercy, and love.
“I’m talking about the quote-unquote Black churches. Just because you have Black people in the church, it doesn’t mean it’s focused on social justice,” he continued.
Barber contends that the threat of Christian Nationalism is not just external but has infiltrated the Black Church as well. He argues that some Black pastors and congregations have fallen into their own form of religious nationalism by abandoning the public square and aligning with exclusionary political platforms.
“Some Black churches have decided to follow the tenets of Christian nationalism. The only thing they talk about is being against gay people, abortion, and some kind of choreographed holiness that doesn’t have anything to do with the main issues of justice,” said Barber. “That is one of the reasons something like 21% of Black males voted for Trump in the last election, and we don’t talk enough about that.”
”A lot of that flowed from chauvinist Black ministers, some male and some female, who literally preached against Kamala Harris,” he added. “Not because of her position, but because of her gender, and because she supported the right of people to be with who they love.”
Along with his critique of the Black Church, Barber shared his thoughts on white churches that have openly supported the current “oppressive regime.” Barber said that they have masked their racism and xenophobia with empty religious rhetoric.
“The so-called religious nationalists that are predominantly white are not really Christian nationalism; it’s Christianesque because they really don’t even talk about Jesus. They basically have decided that their alternative messiah is Trump,” Barber argued. “Their movement is not about love and justice but MAGA. Their focus is greed, and their public policy is rooted in racism, classism, tax cuts for the wealthy, more bills for guns, and they are not preaching the gospel.”
“Dr. Martin Luther King said that it was the moderate white church that gave him his greatest challenges. He said that some white people are more interested in order than they are in change,” Barber went on.
When it comes to the “prophetic church,” Barber noted that while it’s rooted in the Black Church tradition, any group of people who are organizing and preaching a gospel of liberation is being prophetic and are welcomed as allies.
”What I call the prophetic church is Black, white, Latino, young, old, and LGBTQ+. There are Methodist, Presbyterian, and non-denominational persons who recognize that the church has to say ‘no’ to systems of death, injustice, inequality, dismissal of immigrants, hurting of the sick and the poor,” Barber said.
”The very resurrection of Jesus is the divine ‘no’ to anything that kills us, distorts our humanity, and wants to keep us forever in a place of depression. That church doesn’t necessarily have a color; it’s more important that the church is made up of people who are committed to the moral and ethical categories of the ministry of the biblical prophets and by Jesus. That’s how we fight Christian Nationalism.”
